August 19, 2012

Ray Stevens in Concert...

A new concert date has recently been added to the Ray Stevens tour schedule. He'll appear at the Effingham Performance Center in Effingham, Illinois on September 22, 2012 at 8pm. There is no indication, for those who live in nearby states, of whether that concert time is in the Central or Eastern time zone and so for those in Effingham, Illinois but especially those who may have time zone questions make sure to find that out, of course...you don't want to show up an hour late if you happen to live in the Eastern time zone.

This is a concert, as mentioned, that was recently added. This is on the heels of his 2 concert stop on September 21st in Shipshewana, Indiana at the Blue Gate Theater.

On September 29th he'll be in Renfro Valley, Kentucky.

His first 'concerts' of October will be 2 performance segments at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee on October 6th. The Opry appearances aren't conventional "concerts" for those unaware. The Opry's radio format is broken into 30 minute segments, each hosted by a different Opry member.

Sometimes they have two 15 minute segments within a half hour, each hosted by a different Opry member and a designated sponsor. Typically the host of the segment will open with a song and then do some patter with the announcer or a band member...then comes a commercial read by the announcer. Afterward the first singer of the segment comes out and does 1 or 2 songs depending on their length. After some more commercials, the host brings out a second performer...sometimes it'll be another Opry member and sometimes it'll be a guest. If it's a guest, particularly a currently popular guest, he/she will often be allowed as many as 4 songs to perform. If the guest is moderately popular he/she could still be able to perform a few of their biggest or best-known recordings.

Usually anytime Ray appears at the Opry they turn over most of a half hour segment to him perhaps due to his guest status or the fact that he draws a strong fan base of enthusiastic followers/fans and the Opry personnel don't want to disappoint those who may have traveled a good ways to see him...perhaps it's a combination of both.

Ray is one of the few guests at the Grand Ole Opry who get nearly a complete half hour...usually this kind of treatment is reserved to Opry members that often don't get the opportunity to appear that much during a calendar year (results of a demanding touring schedule more than likely). In the various guest spots that Ray has appeared on at the Opry he's performed mostly the songs that have been linked to him for many years: "Everything Is Beautiful", "It's Me Again, Margaret", "The Streak", "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", and "Misty". An appearance during a Halloween themed segment a few years ago had him performing the funny but seldom if ever performed, "Booger Man" (a song from his 1988 album).

After the Opry appearances on October 6th, Ray Stevens heads off to New Mexico for an October 13th concert in Mescalero at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino. You can read more about that appearance Here.

You can get all the information about these concerts and several others by visiting the Events section of the Ray Stevens web-site.

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About Me

I'm a big fan of what's called classic country music. I love the HEE-HAW television program and I like watching vintage cartoons. I have four blogs...the main one is devoted to Ray Stevens. My Ray Stevens blog is written from a fan's perspective. The opinions and expressions discussed in this blog are of my own creation and should not be taken as representation of Ray Stevens and his office staff. I'm simply a dedicated, though opinionated, fan of Ray's who likes discussing his music and career. This fan-created blog page is something that I started when I got fed up with the lack of accurate information about Ray Stevens that was circulating on the internet.

2012

The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music became available on February 28th; It's an impressive set featuring 9-CD's and a booklet; There are 108 recordings altogether and the booklet gives in-depth detail about each of the songs and their impact on society; Ray covers practically all the major comedy/novelty songs that have been recorded over the last 60 plus years; It's a marvelous collection!!

2014

Ray's memoir, Nashville, is a great book! If you don't have a copy I suggest you purchase one...any fan of Ray Stevens should get this book.

2016

Ray's recording, "Dear America", demonstrates that America is still the greatest country on Earth regardless of internal conflicts and imperfections; A loving tribute to the country and a defiant plea that the country's values and traditions should still continue to be championed and fought for; Excellent recording!

2017

Season One DVD of Ray's television series; It contains the first 13 episodes broadcast on local PBS stations from earlier this year; These episodes originally aired on RFD-TV but they were repeated on PBS stations starting this past January; Some local PBS stations aired all 26 episodes from the RFD run while other local PBS stations aired the first 13 episodes and then began airing the PBS exclusives which became available over the summer months; Future DVD releases are expected.

2017

Season Two of the Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville series; This volume consists of episodes guest starring the likes of Bill Anderson, Con Hunley, Williams and Ree, Leroy Van Dyke, and many more!! A perfect companion to Season One; Each season contains 13 half hour episodes.

2018

The Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom officially opened to the public on January 18, 2018; This date is signifcant in the career of Ray Stevens in that it's the date he arrived in Nashville in 1962; The facility houses an entire array of entertainment from the main showroom to a piano bar, a gift shop, and it also houses his recording studios for audio and video productions; The upcoming Sixth Season of his PBS television series, CabaRay Nashville, is being taped at the showroom; These episodes represent the first to be taped at the venue.